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Babiker Abdalla

Mr. Jorgensen

English 1010

July 10. 2018

American dream

In “American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold?” Brandon King argues that American

Dream is still alive and can be achieved by anyone if they are willing to work hard. This essay is

mainly a response to liberal economists who believe that todays society is fragile and

dysfunctional, and that American dream is dead. To convince his readers about his position,

King builds his argument based on his own redefined meaning of “American Dream.” In this

essay, I will explain several rhetorical moves that are mostly effective toward convincing readers

that American Dream has not yet died.

One of the main rhetorical devices that the author uses often is statistics, which he uses to

be reliably and effectively deliver his message to readers. In this essay, what catches the readers

attentions is that statistics are shown not only to illustrate his ideas but also to validate other

points of view. For example, he acknowledges that the economic situation is problematic by

saying that “statistics (do) reveal alarming facts…” and citing several statistics about today’s

unstable economy. Once he does that, however, he turns to the other side of the issue related to

the “dream” as a concept of describing peoples aspirations, regardless of the current economic

situation. He draws on statistics to validate his argument: “72 percent of Americans still believed

it was possible to start poor, work hard, and become rich in America…they believed constituted

being successful with the majority naming things such as a steady job.” This statistic of a survey

describes that many people believe American Dream is still possible. The author present that not
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only do people believe, but people try to save money for the future and secure employee with

numbers: “a decrease in home ownership from 69% in 2008 to about 67.5% in 2010, and an

increase in renter households of 1.1 million”. This implies that todays American Dream is more

about stable life-style and people are stepping forward to achieve it. Thus, using statistics capture

readers attention and builds more reliability to convince readers that “American Dream” is still

achievable.

Another effective way King uses is citing what other people say and then offering a

different way to look at the same situation. King begins his essay by asking a question about

what American Dream truly is which I think he does to allow readers to consider multiple views

about American Dream. Then, he uses words such as “while” and “I say” to acknowledge

diverse perspective and to validate his opinion to join the existing conversation. For example,

instead of looking at the current economic situation as evidence of the “dead” of the dream, he

proposes that the dream is still alive as long as people have the “potential to work for an honest,

secure way of life and save for the future”. He uses comparison or contrast to other people such

as “Many Liberal economists say that the American Dream is, but I say that it is more important

than ever.” (King) or “my question for Herbert is… would raising taxes still be the prudent thing

to do?” by doing this, he can emphasize to readers about his opinion that raising taxes is not

efficient method to better the economy. Interestingly, he does not hesitate to cite other ideas at

the very beginning of his paragraph. For instance, he states “just last year, a newspaper editor in

Atlanta Stated that Great Recession didn’t kill the American Dream”. This move was used to

give readers background information beforehand so, readers can understand how American

Dream can still be alive in a devastating economic situation. Also, author uses comparison to

guide readers to have a deeper understanding of what other people say and value their opinion.
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For example, by saying “with a different approach to fixing the economy” the author informs the

readers about multiple perspectives that people bring into the conversation when discussing the

complex subject of the American Dream and suggest his way to solve today’s economic

situation. A few contrasts and comparison in this essay allow readers to think how we could

improve the economic so people can have more job opportunities that will eventually lead people

to achieve their American Dream at last.

The authors tone in this essay I very optimistic. He first illustrates todays dysfunctional

economy expressing as “fragile economy today”. He seems to focus on criticizing the slow

recovering economy, which deters many people from achieving their American Dream. Than, he

uses words such as “adapted, if the great recession has taught anything, or I believe” to help

readers not to give up their American Dream. He heartens the readers with strong and optimistic

tone by highlighting, “we have adapted the values that contained within the American Dream to

meet new challenges”. With an encouraging tone, he sees todays tragedy as another opportunity

for us to overcome and develop our economy, so we will be able to let American Dream come

true. Also by saying, “if the great recession has taught us anything, it is that planning for the

future by saving more and enacting policies that sustain economic growth are what will keep the

American Dream alive” (King) the author sees todays harsh situation positively as it gives us a

great lesson values and ideals of American Dream has changed from those of the past and it is

never impossible for people to achieve their American Dream.

Appealing to readers with an encouraging tone, King gives readers hope that if we work

hard, we can achieve American Dream even in such a harsh economic situation.

King concludes the essay by trying to capture the audience’s attention on the issue once

more when he uses the unusual rhetorical move. He uses incidents of “economic panics of late
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1970s and after the 9.11 terrorist attacks” to emphasize that economic downturn is not something

new, and the country has faced similar trials in the past. In the process of using this example, he

persuades his readers not to lose their hope in todays a devastating situation because American

Dream didn’t just die off as a result with an example and those challenges are “necessary and

imperative” (King). Overall, to convince readers effectively, he uses rhetorical moves to make

his point clear and easy to follow by making his position and his new definition on the key term

by the end of the paragraph. These methods he uses allow readers to not get lost when he

emphasizes that American Dream is achievable and will exist as a part of American spirit.

“Rip, the middle class: 1946-2013” Edward McClelland is an article about the decline of

the middle class, he first posted the article on a site called salon they claim to post “fearless

commentary and criticism”. McClelland uses his article to point out the changes in our economy

and the affects the diminishing middle class has on our society.

McClelland starts by reminiscing the middle class: “I know I’m dating myself by writing

this, but I remember the middle class”. He talks of a time when a high school student could get a

job at a factory and make as much as his high school teacher, in the 70s the middle class could

afford a lot of the same things the upper class could but now that time has come to an end.

McClelland state that the middle class is a fluke, “an interlude between the gilded ages that more

closely reflect the way most societies structure themselves economically”. The money hat used

to go to the middle class has dropped. It’s as though the new Deal and the modern labor

movement didn’t take McClelland uses the story of a young couple to show the impact the

changes in middle class had. The couple’s careers started during the prime of the middle class,

and their careers changed with the middle class. They were told that they could steady jobs for

the rest of their lives. But with the decline of the middle class and more companies moving
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overseas jobs disappeared. As a result, the couple had to get more training just to get jobs that

paid less than the jobs they had during the golden age of the middle class with no training. An

example McClelland says. Of failing government. McClelland claims that the decrease in the

middle class is the fault of our government, that our officials don’t have a plan for protecting the

welfare of America, “the last president who had a plan for protecting American workers from the

vicissitudes of the global economy was Richard Nixon” (554). McClelland provides many

examples of the adverse effects many officials in government since Nixon have had on the

middle class including Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Paul Cocker, and Bill Clinton. McClelland

affirms that the lesson to be learned from the past is that “we can’t depend on the free market to

sustain a middle class. It’s not going to happen without government intervention.” (McClelland)

without government regulation of industry and high marginal income tax rate McClelland does

not believe we will be able to repair the middle class. As far as McClelland’s concerned “it’s not

fine for the middle class to be one of the losers”.

McClelland uses his article to show the decline of the middle class. The affects it’s had

on our economy, and many people in the USA it’s become harder to get a job out of high school

that will support you. Stable jobs often require a college education. Times are changing, it’s no

longer the job market of our grandparents and its time we recognize it.
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Works Cited

King, Brandon. “The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold?” They Say, I Say: The Moves

That Matter in Academic Writing. Ed. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst.

New York: W. W. Norton. 09 July 2012.

Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say I Say the Moves That Matter in Academic Writing.

3rd ed. New York: W. W. Norton, n. d. print.

McClelland, Edward. “RIP, The Middle Class:1946-2014.” N.P.

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